The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#25 – Miami Redhawks
Points: 49.1665 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.0175 (Rank: 47)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 6.1082 (Rank: 21)
Last Season Ranking: #25

It was a tough season for the Redhawks. They finished with a 9-20-7 record, ending the season 0-9-1. It was their worst season since ‘90 –’91 when they went 5-29-3 under second year coach George Gwozdecky. Their 7th place finish was the lowest since they joined the NCHC. ’17-’18 looks like it will be another challenging season with 18 underclassmen. – Siouxfaninseattle

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#24 – Union Dutchmen
Points: 63.6099 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 4.2713 (Rank: 6)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 51.972 (Rank: 3)
Last Season Ranking: #24

The Dutchmen returned to the NCAA tournament this year, though they lost badly in the first round, 10-3 to Penn State. Union was expected to be a middle-of-the-pack team in ECAC play, but finished tied for 1st. Union beat Princeton in the second round of the ECAC tournament, then lost to Cornell in Lake Placid.

Including 2 juniors leaving early, Union loses 8 players, including their starting goaltender and top 2 scorers on the season (and Hobey Baker finalist Mike Vecchione. Nearly 50% of the teams scoring does not return in 2017-18. Union did surprisingly well in 2016-17, and hopes to do the same in 2017-18. – drshoen

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#23 – St. Lawrence Saints
Points: 69.1492 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.5174 (Rank: 23)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 4.6656 (Rank: 26)
Last Season Ranking: #23

The Saints had their third consecutive season over .500, finishing 4th in the ECAC before losing to Quinnipiac at home in three games. St. Lawrence suffered through a significant number of injuries during the season and struggled down the stretch, winning only 1 of the last 6 games in the regular season.

The Saints leading scorer Gavin Bayreuther graduates, but the 7 scorers behind him all return. The more significant loss is goaltender Kyle Hayton, who is leaving after three years. Arthur Brey played 4 games in net for the Saints in 2016-17, and becomes the incumbent. With Hayton and Bayreuther gone, it becomes difficult to imagine that the Saints will get farther in the ECAC tournament or return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade. – drshoen

[drshoen]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#23 – St. Lawrence Saints
Points: 69.1492 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.5174 (Rank: 23)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 4.6656 (Rank: 26)
Last Season Ranking: #23

The Saints had their third consecutive season over .500, finishing 4th in the ECAC before losing to Quinnipiac at home in three games. St. Lawrence suffered through a significant number of injuries during the season and struggled down the stretch, winning only 1 of the last 6 games in the regular season.

The Saints leading scorer Gavin Bayreuther graduates, but the 7 scorers behind him all return. The more significant loss is goaltender Kyle Hayton, who is leaving after three years. Arthur Brey played 4 games in net for the Saints in 2016-17, and becomes the incumbent. With Hayton and Bayreuther gone, it becomes difficult to imagine that the Saints will get farther in the ECAC tournament or return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade. – drshoen

In the interest of full disclosure, here's the paragraph 2 I originally wrote - if Hayton doesn't leave, as has been rumored...

The Saints leading scorer Gavin Bayreuther graduates, but the 7 scorers behind him all return. Goaltender Kyle Hayton also returns for one more season. With better injury luck, and continued good play, the Saints hope to get farther in the ECAC tournament and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

In the interest of full disclosure, here's the paragraph 2 I originally wrote - if Hayton doesn't leave, as has been rumored...

The Saints leading scorer Gavin Bayreuther graduates, but the 7 scorers behind him all return. Goaltender Kyle Hayton also returns for one more season. With better injury luck, and continued good play, the Saints hope to get farther in the ECAC tournament and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade.

My bad. I thought Hayton to Wisconsin was a done deal once he graduates this summer?

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#22 – Yale Bulldogs
Points: 76.1136 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.0183 (Rank: 40)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 42.4446 (Rank: 5)
Last Season Ranking: #22

The Bulldogs finished below .500 for the first time in a decade in 2016-17. Yale finished in 8th in the ECAC, and beat Dartmouth at home before losing to Harvard in round 2 of the ECAC tournament.

Yale loses 6 to graduation, including one goaltender and 3 of the top 6 in scoring from 2016-17. Sophomore Sam Tucker is the lone returning goaltender, and top scorer and classmate Joe Snively also returns. The Bulldogs will hope that their time spent below .500 is limited to one season, and that they can advance farther in the ECAC tournament in 2017-18. – drshoen

[drshoen]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

My bad. I thought Hayton to Wisconsin was a done deal once he graduates this summer?

Hard to tell; I haven't heard anyone say it isn't going to happen, but I haven't seen anything official saying it was happening either. Just thought it would be good to have both versions of "the truth" out there - you can pick whichever version you like

[altazo]

Hard to tell; I haven't heard anyone say it isn't going to happen, but I haven't seen anything official saying it was happening either. Just thought it would be good to have both versions of "the truth" out there - you can pick whichever version you like

Surely, summer school has ended at St. Lawrence by this point? Should be pretty easy to figure out if Hayton has completed his degree there or not.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#21 – Northern Michigan Wildcats
Points: 81.1787 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.0382 (Rank: 50)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 0.2406 (Rank: 52)
Last Season Ranking: #21

Northern Michigan had a disappointing season, finishing eighth in the WCHA, barely making the playoffs. If it wasn’t for the brilliance of Atte Tolvanen (Sophomore Goaltender) and his shutout streak of 339:05, which was part of a 7-1-2 stretch to start 2017, the Wildcats likely would have missed the playoffs. After the season, head coach Walt Kyle was fired and eventually replaced by long time Minnesota assistant, Grant Potulny as the third coach in program history.

Potulny got to work quickly hiring new assistants and revamping the 2017 recruiting class with four new recruits since his hire in April. The Wildcats lose All-WCHA Third Team forward Dominik Shine but return the previously mentioned Tolvanen as well as All-Rookie forward Darien Craighead. NMU has an uphill battle but the administration certainly made a splash with hiring Potulny and it’s likely to pay dividends in the future. – Shirtless Guy

[bucky15]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#21 – Northern Michigan Wildcats
Points: 81.1787 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.0382 (Rank: 50)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 0.2406 (Rank: 52)
Last Season Ranking: #21

Northern Michigan had a disappointing season, finishing eighth in the WCHA, barely making the playoffs. If it wasn’t for the brilliance of Atte Tolvanen (Sophomore Goaltender) and his shutout streak of 339:05, which was part of a 7-1-2 stretch to start 2017, the Wildcats likely would have missed the playoffs. After the season, head coach Walt Kyle was fired and eventually replaced by long time Minnesota assistant, Grant Potulny as the third coach in program history.

Potulny got to work quickly hiring new assistants and revamping the 2017 recruiting class with four new recruits since his hire in April. The Wildcats lose All-WCHA Third Team forward Dominik Shine but return the previously mentioned Tolvanen as well as All-Rookie forward Darien Craighead. NMU has an uphill battle but the administration certainly made a splash with hiring Potulny and it’s likely to pay dividends in the future. – Shirtless Guy

FS23, please come back and finish. Thanks for the list!

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

FS23, please come back and finish. Thanks for the list!

For you...anything.

I've been quite busy, and I'm still waiting on Shirtless Guy for Michigan Tech's summary. Once I have that, I should be good to go for the Top 20.

Shirtless Guy, if you already sent Tech's summary, please accept my apologies and resend. Thanks.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

For you...anything.

I've been quite busy, and I'm still waiting on Shirtless Guy for Michigan Tech's summary. Once I have that, I should be good to go for the Top 20.

Shirtless Guy, if you already sent Tech's summary, please accept my apologies and resend. Thanks.

I have not completed that yet, thanks.

[mookie1995]

For you...anything.

I've been quite busy, and I'm still waiting on Shirtless Guy for Michigan Tech's summary. Once I have that, I should be good to go for the Top 20.

Shirtless Guy, if you already sent Tech's summary, please accept my apologies and resend. Thanks.

Just mention meanegirl holding up the "I want you in this box" posterboard and you're all set

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#20 – Bowling Green Falcons
Points: 81.4551 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.0602 (Rank: 33)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 1.9338 (Rank: 38)
Last Season Ranking: #20

One could be forgiven that the hard times in Bowling Green aren’t that far in the past. Even a rough start to the 2016-17 campaign was offset by running roughshod through the WCHA playoffs, dispatching Ferris State and Bemidji State in two-game sweeps before losing to Michigan Tech deep in the 2nd overtime. Even so, the Falcons are still on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA tournament, having not made the national postseason since 1989-90.

That three consecutive 20-win seasons is considered a disappointment is a credit to Chris Bergeron, his staff, and the players at BG. Still, getting over that hump is proving to be a tall task, made harder by the fact that the WCHA has been a one-bid league in each of the last two seasons.

To fly higher, the Falcons will have to replace three 10-goal scorers in F Kevin Dufour, D Sean Walker, and F Matt Pohlkamp. Tougher still, juniors D Mark Friedman (Flyers) and G Chris Nell (Rangers) left for the professional ranks. The biggest hole is left by Nell, whose primary backup last year, freshman Ryan Bednard, played well early but didn’t play after mid-January. – gfmorris

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#19 – Providence Friars
Points: 83.1074 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.9618 (Rank: 16)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 45.3049 (Rank: 4)
Last Season Ranking: #19

Providence entered this season with high expectations, having the fewest question marks in Hockey East (BU freshman heavy, BC ravaged by departures, UML no proven goaltending, NU may have been a flash in the pan) and a co-share of the regular season title in the previous year. Goaltender Hayden Hawkey (Buccigross’s favorite name to be sure) came in with little experience, but great pedigree, as the only other goalies Nate Leaman’s team had employed were exceptional in Jon Gillies, and well above average in Nick Ellis. With that said, PC did lose their top 4 scorers to graduation entering the season. PC showed well in conference play after underperforming in early out of conference action with losses to Miami and Holy Cross. Against the top of the table in Hockey East PC struggled, taking 1 point from BU and Notre Dame and being swept by BC, with their one bright spot against the top of the table came in a sweep over Lowell in late January. The loss to Notre Dame hurt especially, as it took the Friars out of home ice contention, forcing them to have to play UMass for 2 more games to kick off the playoffs before travelling to Indiana to face Notre Dame. They were fairly dominated in their matchups with Notre Dame in the Hockey East playoffs, losing consecutive games by a composite 2-10. In the NCAA tournament PC, as a four seed, was set against Harvard, where they suffered another shutout loss at the hands of the Crimson, ending their season. PC loses star defenseman Jake Walman a year early to the NHL, but otherwise returns much of their roster for next season, and one would expect them to make a run at another conference regular season title and make a real run at their first conference tournament title in the Nate Leaman era. – UML Puck Hawk